Time Flies
by monsterundermybed
Summary: It feels like time flies when you're happy and time stops when you're sad. To Wally, five years together was too short and five years apart were too long. AU


He had barely taken three steps into the Hall of Justice when he saw a familiar sight. Dark, black hair. Pale Skin. Eyes hidden by a mask. Muscles underneath a tight uniform. It was different, however. The uniform was now black and blue. The figure was taller, although still shorter than the red head. He watched as the figure ignored his presence and stayed turned away from him. Wally just stared, his chest tightening. The figure couldn't possibly be his Robin, his Robin that had fled from the nest so long ago.

"It was my decision to quit the team. It was my decision to quit Robin. It was my decision to become Nightwing. I'm not your partner anymore, Batman." The voice carried over and Wally finally noticed the other figure standing in front of the smaller one. It was evident that the two seemed to be arguing.

"I know that, but with the wedding don't you think—"

"The answer is still no. Barbara will continue to be Oracle, but I will still be Nightwing. I'm not coming back." The figure turned and finally saw Wally. A look of shock crossed his face for a brief moment before he rushed out the door. Wally was frozen in place. Quit the team? Quit Robin? Nightwing? Wedding? He looked at Batman who merely ignored him as well and stalked out the door. Wally was utterly baffled but decided it'd be best to go on acting as if he hadn't heard anything.

However, that was not the case. That night Wally went home to his dirty apartment and thought about the scene he walked in on. In all honesty it had been on his mind all day. He wanted to make sense of it. He had a feeling of what it was but he couldn't let himself get carried away. He couldn't let himself get his hopes up. He decided he might as well ask the dark knight himself what it was all about. He knew the way to the mansion like the back of his hand, even after all those years of trying to forget it. It held too many memories.

As soon as he stopped on the door step he pressed the doorbell and didn't let it go until the large, wooden door opened.

"Ah, Master Wallace, it's been a while, hasn't it?" Said the old butler, he looked the same as ever.

"Hey Alfred, is, uh, Bruce home?" Wally just came to his senses and realized what he was about to do. His hands began shaking at the prospect of questioning _the_ Batman. He might've been older now but he still feared the man.

"I'm afraid he has gone out on patrol earlier than normal. May I take a message?"

"Oh—" At least he would face his death later rather than sooner, "No… I was just going to ask him something but it can wait. Well, I guess I'll see you later—"

"Nonsense. Master Richard may be gone but I still consider you family. Come in, I've made tea."

"Oh, thanks Alfred." The butler stepped aside to allow the red head access into the mansion. He followed the man into the kitchen where there was a lone teacup sitting on the table. Wally sat down in one of the chairs as Alfred poured him a cup. He nodded at him in thanks and took a sip. It felt weird sitting there without _him_. They sat in silence for a while, Wally's mind wondering off into the day when he'd typically have his best friend sitting in the chair next to him as he stuffed his face. The thoughts made his chest ache.

"Master Wallace, if you don't mind me asking, what was it you wanted to ask Master Bruce? Perhaps I may be of assistance."

Wally looked up at the man then back down at the cup in his hands.

"I… I just wanted to know who Nightwing is, that's all." He raised the cup to his lips, not noticing the grim expression that took over Alfred's usual calm one.

"I don't know if I hate to say or if I'm glad to, because there are many reasons to feel either, but since you want to know… Nightwing is Master Richard's new alias." Wally's eyes widened and he chocked on his tea. Alfred waited for him to finish his coughing fit before continuing.

"Is that all you wanted to know?" Wally thought about it for a moment. He voiced his thought aloud, "Bruce had mentioned something about a wedding…" Alfred nodded then sipped his tea.

"It seems as though Master Richard has proposed to Barbara and they decided to invite the whole league. Master Bruce thought that since they were getting married and Barbara works with Batman that maybe Master Richard would come back. Not to the mansion and being Batman's protégé, but to the league. It's understatement to say that Master Richard declined the offer."

Wally sat in silence trying to process the information. _Dick was alive. Dick was back_. His heart fluttered momentarily then fell. _Dick was getting married_. He stood up and the old man raised an eyebrow.

"Thanks for the tea, Alfred. I'll be leaving now."

"Master Wallace I can't help but feel that you'd like to know where you may find Master Richard." He didn't even wait for a response; all he needed was the look on Wally's face. "Master Bruce has kept it as private information but Barbara had the decency to at least tell me. He works in Bludhaven, if that's any help." Wally hesitated before thanking him once more.

Despite how much he wanted to Wally didn't head straight for Bludhaven. Instead, he went home. As soon as the door closed behind him he slid against it, all the way to the floor. He pulled his knees up into his chest and buried his face on top of them. His shoulders shook as he sobbed. Too many thoughts and images played across the back of his eyelids. Him and Dick when they had been apart of the team. The way Dick smirked during battle. The sound of Dick's cackle. The way Dick moved on the battlefield. The way Dick always butchered the English dictionary. The way Dick's face looked when Wally finally confessed. The hue of Dick's eyes. The way Dick's skin felt against Wally's fingers. The way Dick's lips moved against Wally's. The way Dick looked at him. The way Dick said those three words that made Wally's chest ache with agony at the memory of it. Dick had left him. Forgot all about him. Stopped loving him. Moved on. Fell in love with some one else.

All while Wally searched for five years. All while Wally never stopped loving him. All while Wally thought about him day and night. All while Wally would lie awake in bed, haunted by his ghost. But that clearly meant nothing to Dick. He had moved on. He was going to get married. Wally's memories were infiltrated by new thoughts. Thoughts that pierced his chest and made it spill. The thought of Dick looking at her the same way he used to look at Wally… The thought of Dick caressing her skin like he used to caress Wally's… The thought of Dick's lips tasting her skin like he used to taste Wally's…

It was too much. Wally couldn't handle it. Within seconds he was out the door, not even bothering to change back into his uniform. Secret identity be damned.

The sound of his feet hitting the pavement echoed off the buildings in Bludhaven. He was nothing more than a blur to the pedestrians that dared walk the streets at night, which were only a few. He looked down every alley and on every rooftop before he finally broke down on top of the roof of an old apartment building. He could hear the noise from a TV coming from an open window, he could hear a baby crying and smell food cooking on a stove. He fell to his knees and closed his eyes. _I'm not going to find him… This was all pointless_. He punched the surface beneath him in a fit of anger.

Soundlessly a dark figure approached, watching the man that was on the verge of a meltdown.

"Wally? Is that you?" Wally looked up at the sound of his name. By the sound of its voice he could tell it was Nightwing—no, it was Dick.

"Dick?" He stood up, staring at the figure as it stepped out from the shadows.

"What are you doing in Bludhaven?"

"I came looking for you. Alfred told me where you were."

"Oh…" Silence, then,

"Where have you been? I looked for you for years after you disappeared. I began to think that you were dead." Dick didn't say anything, he merely stared at Wally through his cowl.

"Why'd you leave anyways?"

"I needed to go, I couldn't stand—"

"And leave the team? Leave me? …Leave what we had?"

"Wally, you don't understand—"

"Then make me understand!"

"I'm trying to but you keep interrupting!" Wally closed his mouth and swallowed the retort he was about to make. Dick took a deep breathe then stepped closer to Wally.

"I-I had to get out of there… while I was on the team I was known as Robin. Batman's protégé. I felt obligated to grow up and become him but after that failed exercise where we died… I knew that I could never be him but if I continued to be Robin… I had to become my own person. So I had to leave. So I had to become Nightwing."

"But why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I-I felt like that if I told anyone that it'd defeat the purpose… I felt like they'd still expect me to be like Batman, so they couldn't know."

"Not even me? Dick, I wouldn't expect something like that from you because you're no where close to being like Batman. You're not him, and that's a good thing because I fell in love with you, not him." He paused before saying, "I thought you fell in love with me, too"

"I did…"

"Then why are you marrying Barbara?"

"Wally, don't bring her—"

"Why not? I thought you loved me!" He could feel all the anger building up inside him, trying it's hardest to get out.

"I did, I do—I mean, shit…" They stood there and just stared at each other. The aching and pain and longing in Wally's chest outweighed the anger boiling inside him. He just wanted Dick back in his life and now he was, but he didn't want to argue with him. He just wanted to hold him tight and never let go, but he knew better. Dick was getting married. Dick was moving on.

"I searched for you for _years._ I never forgot about you. I loved you, and I still do. Remember all those things you said to me? Whatever happened to that?"

"We were young and naïve and—"

Wally scoffed, "Young? I was twenty and you were eighteen. I'd hardly call that young. There wasn't a day when I didn't think about how much I loved you and how much it hurt that you left me so easily. Uncle Barry said I always wore my heart on my sleeve and I guess you just took that for granted… but keep in mind Dick, while you're off playing house with Barbara, that I will never stop hurting."

"Wally, I think its best you go, and I also think its best that you move on. It's best for the both of us. You're still my best friend and you can come to the wedding—"

Wally laughed mockingly, quieting the black and blue-clad superhero.

"Wally—" Said speedster turned into a blur and all that was left on the rooftop was a conflicted bird.

He wouldn't cry. He refused to. He couldn't. At least not until he reached his apartment in which he broke down, _again_, once he was inside. In the past hour he had taken in too much than he could handle. It was unlike him to be this way. He was supposed to be happy and outgoing, but Dick had always been able to bring out a different side of him, whether he liked it or not. Dick. _Dick_. _**Dick**_. He hated Dick. He hated what Dick did to him. He hated that Dick moved on. He hated that Dick affected him so much. Wally hated that Dick made him love him so much, so effortlessly.

Wally certainly didn't consider himself rude, at least, not intentionally rude. It might have slipped by him once or twice when he was really angry but he certainly tried his best to be nice. However, he couldn't help but show up to the occasion, even after he had argued with the one it was for. He knew Dick said he was invited but he still felt bad about showing up after what went down between them.

He somehow managed to sneak in, well, he wouldn't really call it sneaking in since he just walked right into the building without anyone questioning his appearance, to his face at least. They didn't say anything to him but he knew they were wondering why he bothered to show up to this event because of the history he had with the groom. He looked around the hall, taking in the appearance of all the people he knew from the league dressed in formal suits and dresses while he stood there in his sweats. Had he not decided to come on a whim he would've dressed up, but this was something he did spontaneously and therefore didn't have time to change. He originally hadn't planned on coming but he nagged himself into it saying that Dick was still his best friend. He caught Roy's questioning eyebrow that was raised but merely ignored him and walked into the main room, taking a seat in one of the pews at the back. It didn't matter if he was dressed up or down; the reason he was here was all the same—to support his best friend as best he could, no matter how much he was dreading what was going to happen.

He heard the voices all around him but didn't hear their conversation. He felt their glances but didn't see their looks. He stared at his shoes, thinking of the meeting he had a few days before the wedding he was currently at.

While on the outside he was brooding, deep down Wally wished he could just sweep Dick off his feet and run away from this place. This didn't seem like Dick. Dick would've preferred something simpler and less outrageous but then again, he had been raised by Bruce Wayne, the man known for outrageous and lavish parties.

The guests began to fill the pews, the murmur still hovering in the air._ I wonder what her dress looks like. Do you know where they're going for their honeymoon? Bruce really outdid himself. _The comments and questions circled throughout the air, making Wally hate being there. He'd much rather be some where else, but he had to support his best friend on the best day of his life, right? If Dick was still willing to Wally his best friend.

Everyone suddenly went quiet as the music started. It sounded like an impending doom, a death march, the end of all things good. Everyone stood, including Wally although reluctantly. He'd hate to admit it but she looked beautiful. Her red locks fell in curls and her gown hugged her body in the most flattering way possible. Everyone watched as she approached the altar, a small smile on her face. Everyone sat once she joined hands with Dick, who Wally couldn't help but notice looked amazing in his simple black suit and slicked back hair.

As the preacher began speaking Wally slipped into a world where he remembered having Dick all to himself and how wonderful it would feel to have him back again, but for now he had to be happy because his best friend was getting married. _Push those thoughts aside Wally. Hes getting married, He's happy. _He'd have to be happy even if it tore him up inside. He thought about how time flew when things were good and how they dragged on when they were bad. It should have been the opposite. His time with dick was too short and the pain after he left? Felt far too long and dragged out. And what was he supposed to feel now that Dick was back, but with another person? Wally groaned, the woman in front of him shushed him.

Finally zoning out from his little dream world and thoughts he managed to catch the last words of the preacher, "…speak now or forever hold your peace."

Before he could even comprehend what he was doing Wally stood up abruptly. He heard a few people gasp as they turned in their seats and he could feel all their eyes on him but the speedster was only looking at the groom. He couldn't let this happen. Not after the way he left things with Dick. He had to clear everything up, lay everything out on the table. If Dick rejected him that was fine, at least he knew how Wally felt but at the moment he didn't. So Wally had to tell him. His hands were shaking and his voice was barely audible.

"Dick," he took a deep breathe, trying to strengthen his voice, "I loved you—I'm still madly in love with you..." He paused, took another deep breathe and stepped out into the aisle. "I loved you when you were Robin, I love you now. I love you for being Dick Grayson. I love you for being _you_. I don't know when I started having these feelings for you I just remember hanging out with you one day, when it was just us. Just two normal teenagers hanging out playing video games. You said one of your made up words and I looked at you and suddenly realized how much I loved you and all your quirks. I guess I always felt that way because when I finally realized my feelings I knew I didn't like you, I _loved_ you. When we were on the team together it took me longer to admit my feelings then it should have, but when you said you felt the same…that was such an amazing moment." He took a couple steps forward, keeping eye contact with the raven haired man standing at the altar.

"Suddenly everything made sense and I felt like I didn't have to try so hard all the time, because I was finally happy. You made me happy, the happiest I've ever been. And when you left…" He paused, remembering the days after the bird's disappearance, "I-I felt empty and deserted. I didn't know what to do with myself. I searched for you for years and years hoping that I would find you so I wouldn't have to try so hard. Try so hard to feel like a complete person...because I can't be without you...you're a part of me...and…and with you I don't have to try so hard because I'm actually happy...but only with you. I searched for you so I would be happy again, even if you didn't want to be with me I was fine with just being friends as long as you were in my life again. All I wanted was for you to be in my life again. That was my only wish for all those years. To have you back in my life, even as just a friend, but after I found you… I realized I can't be just friends with you, I don't think you can be just friends with me either. They always say if you love some body you'll let them be happy but I can't do that. I can't pretend to be okay if you're in my life and happy without me. I love you _too_ much to do that…" He was on the verge of tears and he knew he'd curse himself later for the cliché speech he had just given Dick but in that moment he didn't care. He just wanted his little bird back.

"Please…"

He couldn't read Dick's expression which worried him. He was impulsive, sure, but was this taking it too far, especially after what had happened just days before? He blinked his eyes, forcing back the tears that threatened to spill.

Dick leaned down to whisper something in Barbara's ear. The people in the pews began to murmur and Wally was growing anxious with each passing moment. He looked around and was sure Bats would kill him by the intense glare he was giving him. Wally looked back at Dick. After a long exchange of words with Barbara he smiled at her; soft and apologetic. Dick stood up and slowly approached the nervous speedster and the crowd fell quiet. Wally could have sworn it was the longest moment in his life, watching Dick walk towards him. He gazed into blue eyes that stopped in front of him and swallowed.

"Think you can get us out of here fast enough so Bats doesn't have a chance to kill you?" Dick was smirking and Wally was aware that his chest had been pounding. A new sensation washed over him. A sensation that drowned out all nervousness and replaced it with relief. His chest lightened and he smiled from ear to ear.

"Do you really have to ask?" He replied as he picked up the bird bridal style and bolted out the front door. No matter how fast time flew this time Wally was fine with him because there'd be no pain afterwards, his little bird was here to stay; he wasn't going to leave again.


End file.
